Outfitted with three-bedrooms, two baths and “plenty of upgrades,” the roughly 1,500-square-foot home at 738 Banks Street, on the southern edge of Bernal Heights, was listed for $1.650 million back in the fourth quarter of 2015, an above-average list price of $1,093 per square foot at the time.

Subsequently reduced to $1.356 million and then withdrawn from the market without a sale, 738 Banks returned to the market listed for $1.365 million this past July, a price which was reduced to $1.250 million, or a below-average $828 per square foot, in September.

And having been withdrawn anew from the MLS this past November, the “move-in ready” Bernal Heights home – with a newly remodeled kitchen and bath, plus a new “kitchenette” on the “private lower level” of the home – has just been listed anew with an official “1” day on the market and a “$999,000” price tag, which is roughly $662 per square foot in a neighborhood which is currently averaging closer to $900 per foot and positioned for an “over asking!” sale, perhaps even within “days” of being listed, at least according to the official industry stats and reports.

And yes, the upgraded home at 738 Banks was officially in contract “within 16 days” of being listed for sale, at least according to all industry stats, and has now closed escrow with a contract price of $1.35 million, which is officially “$351,000 over asking!” and a little under…$900 per square foot.

To cast a shadow that sharp/distinct, it would have to be a much brighter “point source” light. My guess is the sun reflecting off a car parked outside. It’s still surprising the effect is visible in three photos, but I don’t know how long the photoshoot lasted.

Snark aside, a minimally observant person would note $1.35 > $1.25 and so ask:
(1) why didn’t the house sell earlier at the lower price, and
(2) does this – vast sample of one – mean prices are increasing ??
Gentle…persons to your corners and await the bell….

The “newly remodeled kitchen and bath, plus a new “kitchenette” on the “private lower level” of the home” might have had something to do with it. And of course, considering the original ask, it’s entirely possible the “$1.25 million” price was intended as a teaser but failed to generate an acceptable overbid at the time.

In other words, when marketing the house for sale with an asking price of $1.356mm, a sale was not achieved.

So was the house overpriced then? Apparently not. By engaging in the tactic of purposefully under-pricing the house to effect an ‘auction’ the seller/real estate agent was able to achieve a transaction price of $1.35mm, virtually the same price that was asked under the previous “fair price” marketing.

Instead of using this as a great example of PRECISELY why people (sellers and agents) engage in this practice of under-pricing a home and to induce demand and attention, the article is (as ever) hung up on the concept of “over-asking” so save the public from the tricky language of real estate agents.

Want to sell you house fast and at a fair price? Maybe you could consider doing what realtors tell people to do and price it low. People keep doing it because it works.

for the love of god, if you’re going to use the finance world’s bizarre “MM” for “a thousand times a thousand in roman numerals = one million,” at least capitalize it and don’t make it look like the SI unit for millimeters

Cheap and inappropriate replacement windows and garage or front doors with the ridiculous sunset pattern are a couple of my pet peeves, and this house has both. Boxy mid century homes like this can look okay with a good paint scheme, but this is not it.